Of Man and Machine
by Travithian Axile
Summary: ‘I could blame everything on Cait Sith, because he wasn’t me and I wasn’t him.’ For Reeve, the lines between man and machine begin to blur.


Final Fantasy VII: Of Man and Machine

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any mentioned locations or snippets from the game.

Summary: 'I could blame everything on Cait Sith, because he wasn't me and I wasn't him.' For Reeve, the lines between man and machine begin to blur.

A Word From The Author: Okay, I know this has been done before, but I had to do it again. A kind of tribute to the Reeve/ Cait Sith connection. Thank you for clicking on this link.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

'There was something pathetic about it. Xris was reminded of the robot with the sad eyes. We give this metal life. Are we the ones who endow it with spirit as well? Or do we truly understand the meaning of 'life'?'

—Margaret Weis, Mag Force 7: Robot Blues.

Reeve's life revolved around his work and his position, that of the Head of Housing and Development. Midgar was his pride and joy, he had designed it personally, and he knew it intimately as he would a lover. He had not thought twice after the President had approved his plans, thinking nothing of the bomb they had built in the support pillar for 'emergency' purposes.

So he had been appalled when the plate came crashing down, killing the entire population of Sector Seven. All for the sole purpose of eliminating ShinRa's rival, the terrorist group AVALANCHE. So when Rufus offered him a chance to join up with the team and betray them form within, he had jumped like a fish at a bait.

Thus he sent out his proudest invention, Cait Sith, a mechanical cat riding on a stuffed Moogle. He could control it from a limitless distance with a remote and a screen. He became ShinRa's eyes and ears. He did his job; he stole the Key and gave it to the Turks. For it he was praised, acclaimed.

He could have left anytime; AVALANCHE would not stop him. Not with Marlene in the hands of ShinRa. But through the eyes of Cait Sith he saw things in a different light. For too long Reeve had looked at the world in stark blacks and whites; AVALANCHE taught him that there were different shades of gray in between, shown him the brilliant colors. He had seen the world through their eyes; red eyes, blue eyes, black eyes, gray eyes, brown eyes.

In time Cait Sith became a shield against reality, against the cold and sinister truth. His loyalty to ShinRa was deep-rooted and would not waver so easily, so he let Cait Sith be the scapegoat for his lapses. Let him become a separate personality who had befriended the members of AVALANCHE who told their fortunes and threw out witty jokes. Other times he was Reeve, hardworking employee in the pay of ShinRa. But he began to look forward to the long hours he spent in front of the computer screen when he left Reeve behind and became Cait Sith the merry robot. He knew he was losing himself, but he didn't care, because when he was Cait Sith he had no fear and he had the company of friends. He was strong, he could kill monsters, not some bookish, scrawny computer nerd. He was free. And when night came he switched off his screen his soul came flying back and he was Reeve again.

He convinced himself he was doing no wrong. Because he wasn't Cait Sith and Cait Sith wasn't him.

Soon he could no longer fool himself. During work he thought the thoughts of Cait Sith and his superiors began to notice. When he was traipsing around with AVALANCHE they sometimes asked him about ShinRa and momentarily he had to revert to Reeve again. Because there was no way Cait Sith would know about ShinRa. Cait Sith was only a happy-go-lucky entity. His two lives threatened to collide with disastrous results; he had kept both apart for so long that when the collision came it was difficult to tell where Reeve ended and Cait Sith began.

Then Meteor reddened the sky, and it no longer mattered, not when ShinRa could not do anything and AVALANCHE could. Rufus died, ShinRa fell; everything was in chaos. He was thrown into prison but retained his remote. Controlled by the man, Cait Sith followed his comrades into the Northern Crater and faced off against Sephiroth. He was one of them, and inwardly he thrilled.

From prison he flew over the miles into Cait Sith, and he was Cait Sith. He experienced the fear, the triumph, as they escaped from the Northern Crater in the Highwind by the skin of their teeth. He basked in the cheer of the Midgarians as AVALANCHE walked among them, once infamous terrorists, now hailed as heroes. Guided by Cait Sith, they broke into the ruins of the ShinRa building and flung open the doors of his cell. He looked up and recognized faces he had only seen before in pixels, in the dreams of Cait Sith. He knew all of them: Cloud Strife, the leader, Tifa Lockheart, the beautiful martial artist, Barret Wallace, gunman, Vincent Valentine, angst-ridden sharpshooter, Yuffie Kisagari, heir to Wutai, Cid Highwind, the badmouthed pilot, and of course, Cait Sith. Face to face with Reeve, who was not Cait Sith. He was afraid, suddenly. Did they know him, truly? Or did they only know Cait Sith?

"Hi," he said shyly, and Cait Sith followed suit.

For a moment there was silence. Then they surged forward, with broad smiles and handshakes. Cloud thumped him on the back as if they had been long time buddies and grinned widely. "It's nice to finally meet the man behind the machine," he said sincerely.

Everyone hugged him and laughed, and through his tears Reeve smiled, identity crisis shorted out. He walked over and switched off Cait Sith, and he hung limply in Reeve's arms. Cait Sith had been a machine, and machines were soulless, but Reeve had provided the spirit. Man and machine had finally come together, and he was much the better off for it. Arm in arm with his longtime friends, Reeve walked out to freedom with AVALANCHE at his side.

THE END

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Author's Ending Note: Hope you guys liked it; just an introspective look into how Reeve coped with betraying ShinRa at certain points throughout the game. Hopefully everyone got my point, about how Reeve made himself detached from AVALANCHE by thinking as Cait Sith as a totally different person altogether. Thanks again.

T. Axile signing out


End file.
